The Frogger

"**The Frogger**"
"The Frogger"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 9; Episode 18
Directed by	Andy Ackerman
Story by	Gregg Kavet & Andy Robin and Steve Koren & Dan O'Keefe
Teleplay by	Gregg Kavet & Andy Robin
Production code	918
Original air date	April 23, 1998
Guest appearances
	John O'Hurley as J. Peterman; Julia Campbell as Lisi; Peter Stormare as Slippery Pete; Drake Bell as Kenny; Reuven Bar Yotam as Shlomo; Sam Shamshak as Sal; Wayne Wilderson as Walter; Mark Daniel Cade as Other Walter; Jack Esformes as Mike; Melissa Denton as Kobe; Oliver Muirhead as Lubeck; Ruth Cohen as Ruthie Cohen (uncredited);
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Bookstore"	Next →; "The Maid"
	Seinfeld season 9
	List of episodes

"The Frogger" is the 174th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It is the 18th episode for the ninth and final season.^[1] It first aired on April 23, 1998. In this episode, Elaine eats a vintage cake from King Edward VIII's wedding, Jerry maintains a relationship with a woman he doesn't like in order to avoid running into a serial killer, and George tries to preserve his high score on the Frogger machine at his high school hangout.

Plot

Elaine is weary of her co-workers' numerous celebrations with cake, so she calls in sick. Elaine's co-workers surprise her the next day with a cake to celebrate her return to work, but she rejects it and refuses to take part in any future celebrations. Missing the daily sugar-rush, Elaine raids her boss Peterman's mini-refrigerator. She finds a slice of cake and has a bite. Peterman reveals it is from King Edward VIII's wedding to Wallis Simpson, and he bought it for $29,000. Elaine returns to even out the cake, but is swept up by the decadence of eating cake from a royal wedding and ends up finishing it off. Elaine looks for a replacement, and Kramer points out that it resembles an Entenmann's cake. Peterman is bewildered when he has his slice of cake appraised at only $2.19. He reviews his office surveillance videotape and sees Elaine eating and dancing with the slice of cake. However, he decides the effect of such a stale cake on her digestive system is all the punishment she needs.

Kramer visits the police station, where he obtains some caution tape and hears a serial killer nicknamed "The Lopper" is on the loose in the Riverside Park area.

Jerry and George go to their high school hangout, Mario's Pizza Parlor, for one last slice of pizza before it closes down. George discovers he still has the high score on the Frogger arcade cabinet, and buys the cabinet to preserve his fame. Jerry points out that he must keep it powered up while he moves it, or it will lose its memory, erasing the high score. George meets with Kramer, expert electrician "Slippery Pete", and truck driver Shlomo to coordinate the movement of the Frogger machine. However, Slippery Pete plays Frogger on battery power until only three minutes of power remain. The only available power source is across a busy street, and Kramer has run out of caution tape. George moves the machine across the street, weaving through traffic like the frog from Frogger. George reaches the opposite sidewalk, but is unable to lift the game onto the curb; an oncoming Freightliner smashes the Frogger cabinet.

Jerry dates Elaine's friend Lisi, who finishes his sentences, but incorrectly. While he walks her home after a bad date, she tells him she lives in the Riverside Park area. To avoid the Lopper, he instead takes her back to his place, where they end up having sex. Lisi plans a weekend trip for them to Pennsylvania Dutch country, a signal that the relationship is getting serious. It is too late for a phone breakup, so Jerry goes to Lisi's apartment and breaks up with her. However, the breakup takes ten hours, so Jerry makes up with her rather than risk going out at night and running into the Lopper. The next morning, they head off on the trip to Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Production

Seinfeld co-creator/star Jerry Seinfeld came up with the story of George attempting to preserve a Frogger high score himself.^[2]

This episode's many working titles include "The Cake Parties".^[3] The table read was held on February 27, 1998, with filming taking place on March 2–4.^[3]

On the day of filming the real-life Frogger sequence, Seinfeld belatedly realized that the road lines were white, when they should be yellow to match the Frogger graphics. Production designer Tom Azzari came up with the last minute fix of covering the white lines up with yellow tape.^[2] Jason Alexander performed his own stunt, diving out of the path of an oncoming truck and being showered with the shrapnel of the crushed Frogger machine as the truck ran it over.^[2] The sound effects are actual sounds from Frogger, played in time with his movements. The sound that plays shortly after the machine is smashed by a truck is the "squash" sound when the frog is hit by a vehicle during the game.

Future Nickelodeon star Drake Bell appears in this episode as the child who is first seen playing on the Frogger machine and loses due to George's unsolicited advice. Overweight J. Peterman employee Becky was played by Seinfeld writer Jennifer Crittenden in a fatsuit.^[3]

"The Frogger" is one of the few episodes in Seinfeld's later seasons to have no Kramer story. Kramer's intended storyline for the episode, in which he courts a woman he meets outside the bathroom, was filmed but cut from the episode in its entirety due to length constraints.^[3]

The Frogger high score

On September 24, 2005, The Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard offered a $1,000 cash prize to the first video game player who could break George Costanza's fictional Frogger high score of 860,630 points as portrayed in the episode. No player was able to break this mark before the December 31, 2005, deadline.

On December 22, 2009, Pat Laffaye of Westport, Connecticut, United States, scored a Frogger world record high score of 896,980 points.^[4]

References

^ "Seinfeld Season 9 Episodes". TV Guide. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Seinfeld Season 9: Inside Look - "The Frogger" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Seinfeld Season 9: Notes About Nothing - "The Frogger" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.
^ "Gamer Beats George Costanza's Frogger Score". Wired. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

External links

"The Frogger" at IMDb

[tvguide-1] "Seinfeld Season 9 Episodes". TV Guide. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.

[InsLook-2] Seinfeld Season 9: Inside Look - "The Frogger" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.

[NaN-3] Seinfeld Season 9: Notes About Nothing - "The Frogger" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.

[4] "Gamer Beats George Costanza's Frogger Score". Wired. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

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v t e Seinfeld episodes
Season 1	"The Seinfeld Chronicles" "The Stake Out" "The Robbery" "Male Unbonding" "The Stock Tip"
Season 2	"The Ex-Girlfriend" "The Pony Remark" "The Jacket" "The Phone Message" "The Apartment" "The Statue" "The Revenge" "The Heart Attack" "The Deal" "The Baby Shower" "The Chinese Restaurant" "The Busboy"
Season 3	"The Note" "The Truth" "The Pen" "The Dog" "The Library" "The Parking Garage" "The Cafe" "The Tape" "The Nose Job" "The Stranded" "The Alternate Side" "The Red Dot" "The Subway" "The Pez Dispenser" "The Suicide" "The Fix-Up" "The Boyfriend"† "The Limo" "The Good Samaritan" "The Letter" "The Parking Space" "The Keys"
Season 4	"The Trip"† "The Pitch" "The Ticket" "The Wallet" "The Watch" "The Bubble Boy" "The Cheever Letters" "The Opera" "The Virgin" "The Contest" "The Airport" "The Pick" "The Movie" "The Visa" "The Shoes" "The Outing" "The Old Man" "The Implant" "The Junior Mint" "The Smelly Car" "The Handicap Spot" "The Pilot"†
Season 5	"The Mango" "The Puffy Shirt" "The Glasses" "The Sniffing Accountant" "The Bris" "The Lip Reader" "The Non-Fat Yogurt" "The Barber" "The Masseuse" "The Cigar Store Indian" "The Conversion" "The Stall" "The Dinner Party" "The Marine Biologist" "The Pie" "The Stand In" "The Wife" "The Raincoats"† "The Fire" "The Hamptons" "The Opposite"
Season 6	"The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100"† "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
Season 7	"The Engagement" "The Postponement" "The Maestro" "The Wink" "The Hot Tub" "The Soup Nazi" "The Secret Code" "The Pool Guy" "The Sponge" "The Gum" "The Rye" "The Caddy" "The Seven" "The Cadillac"† "The Shower Head" "The Doll" "The Friar's Club" "The Wig Master" "The Calzone" "The Bottle Deposit"† "The Wait Out" "The Invitations"
Season 8	"The Foundation" "The Soul Mate" "The Bizarro Jerry" "The Little Kicks" "The Package" "The Fatigues" "The Checks" "The Chicken Roaster" "The Abstinence" "The Andrea Doria" "The Little Jerry" "The Money" "The Comeback" "The Van Buren Boys" "The Susie" "The Pothole" "The English Patient" "The Nap" "The Yada Yada" "The Millennium" "The Muffin Tops" "The Summer of George"
Season 9	"The Butter Shave" "The Voice" "The Serenity Now" "The Blood" "The Junk Mail" "The Merv Griffin Show" "The Slicer" "The Betrayal" "The Apology" "The Strike" "The Dealership" "The Reverse Peephole" "The Cartoon" "The Strongbox" "The Wizard" "The Burning" "The Bookstore" "The Frogger" "The Maid" "The Puerto Rican Day" "The Chronicle"† "The Finale"†
† Indicates two-part episode